1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to support pillow or pads that can be worn around the waist to support a baby during nursing, and/or to provide support of the forearms and free up wearer's hands while engaged in an activity such as reading.
2. Description of Related Art
Breastfeeding an infant is generally beneficial for both the mother and the child. Mother's milk provides the infant with needed antibodies to build healthy defenses against germs, essential fatty acids that promote strong development of the brain and nervous system, and proteins specifically designed for infant growth. Nursing provides benefits for the mother as oxytocin, which is released in the mother's body during nursing, contracts the mother's uterus to its pre-pregnant size. The mother-infant interaction of breastfeeding also provides time for the baby to bond with his or her mother and for the mother to learn how to respond to the baby's needs.
However, as mother's and infants often nurse over 1000 times during the first three months, muscle stress can develop in the mother's arms, neck, shoulders, and back, as well as tendonitis, myofibrositis, myofascitis, and/or carpel tunnel can develop in the mother's arms. Tendonitis will refer herein to an inflammation of the tendons. Myofibrositis will refer herein to the inflammation of the perymysium. Myofascitis will refer herein to the inflammation of the thin layer of fibrous tissue known as fascia, which surrounds muscles and attaches to bones. Carpel tunnel syndrome will refer herein to conditions involving the compression of a hand's median nerve as it passes through the wrist.
Stress on the back and hands can lead to improper positioning of the infant. The improper positioning makes satiating the infant difficult. Improper position may make breast problems, such as infections, more likely to develop in the mother due to incomplete drainage of the breast.
Many mothers give up on nursing in the early weeks or months following birth, rather than after the one-year period recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. This decision may be in response to the physical distress discussed above, in addition to ongoing muscle fatigue that results from sleep deprivation and repetitive movements while caring for a newborn. Other factors contributing to this include but, are not limited to, mothers who have limited use of their hands due to a physical disability or pre-existing condition, and mothers who have fuller breasts, experience greater difficulties with positioning new-born babies properly at the breast.
Some pillows or pads have been designed to provide support of a nursing mother's forearms and lumbar region, in addition to the baby, and some previous devices attach directly to the wearer's waist through a waist belt or strap bringing the support pillow near the body of the wearer. Some nursing pillows elevate the infant's head higher than the infant's stomach.
However, currently available pillows or pads do not adequately support the newborn baby in a position that is in close enough proximity to the mother's nipple to make positioning of the newborn infant easy and head elevation of the infant fully optimal for feeding.
Another problem: none of the known prior pillows offer enough structural support of the baby to free up the mother's use of her hands, or to reduce apprehension of the baby rolling off the surface.
The existing pillows do not grow with the baby, but rather are designed as a single unit offering the same support to newborns, as well as to older and larger babies.
There are claims to simultaneously provide support for a baby and for the elbows, arms and hands of the feeder, easing the burden of holding the baby during feeding and freeing one or both arms for caressing the baby during feeding. However, the support offered to the baby, is inadequate. There is nothing that helps to reduce the baby's ability to roll from the surface or to hold the baby in the correct feeding position. If the mother were to remove both her hands from holding the baby, the baby could easily lose its latch from the mother's nipple and even roll from the support surface.
What is needed is an attachable device, which reduces the wearer's use of her hands while nursing. What is needed is an attachable device, which reduces the baby's ability to role from the surface. What is needed is an attachable device, which helps to support the baby's back so that the baby can be properly positioned on his or her side for nursing.
There are devices claiming to place the newborn infant in close proximity to the mother's nipple. However, newborn infants are often several inches short of reaching the mother's nipple while resting on the front support surface of these devices.
What is further needed is a support surface system that has specific features to aid with nursing newborns and that can then be modified to aid with nursing older babies and toddlers.
What is further needed is a support surface that can reduce the wearer's use of hands while reading.
What is further needed is a back support pillow with enough surface area to be positioned not only behind the lumbar area of the back but also extend support into the thoracic area of the back. Consequently, for extended periods of nursing, no additional pillow or pads would need to be inserted behind the wearer's upper-back for additional support.
What is further needed is a back support pillow, which adequately fits when mothers shift the device in order to place the baby in the football hold position.
There are devices, which describe built in elevation wedges on each end of the front surface support the baby in a feeding position. However, the front surface does not place the baby in close enough proximity to the mother's nipple making its capacity for elevating the baby's head ineffective. The inadequate elevation, size, and graduated slope built into these wedges do not adequately elevate the baby's head far enough above his or her abdomen.
Some devices have a surface described as sloping downwardly from side-to-side such that an infant supported on the midportion can be positioned with their head above their abdomen. However, it does not include a surface that supports the baby's back so that the baby can be properly positioned on his or her side for nursing. This lack of structural back support for the baby makes belly-to-belly contact between the mother and infant while nursing in the cradle-hold and cross-hold positions more difficult to achieve, and, tends to lessen the baby's ability to latch on to the mother's nipple for optimal feeding.
A big complaint about at least one prior art baby nursing system is that the hook and loop awakens baby. The inventor noticed that his wife used to put the baby down with the baby nursing system on, then go to another room and close the door to undo the hook and loop. Sometimes the baby still heard it and woke up. Women who put their babies to sleep in cribs cannot put the baby down with a baby nursing system on, so they remove it and wake up the baby.